The habitat of the Green Hooked Beak turtle will not differ to greatly from its ancestor the green sea turtle however the animal will be have far wider range of travel. Their habitat will resemble another sea turtle's habitat the logger head sea turtle, which inhabitants more of the ocean than just the tropical regions. This will benefit the Green Hooked Beak Turtle as their will be more beaches to lay their eggs, and there will be more opportunities in finding food. The map below shows a far larger range for this future turtle as illustrated by the dark blue regions.
Habitat of the Green Hooked Beak Turtle
The sea turtle will spend the first half of its life the same as its ancestor in the open ocean. In the second half of the sea turtles life will be spent in both the open ocean and in the shallow parts of the coastline. This will allow the Green Hooked Beak Turtle more freedom in moving to find food or more suitable habitats. As mature adults the Green Hooked Beak Turtle's habitat will resemble its ancestor the green sea turtle as it will spend it's life in bays, reefs and shallow waters along the coastline.
As the turtles have been given more freedom in their habitat it will allow them more space to make their homes and it will also provide the animals more beaches for breeding which will help the animals to not destroy any other nests or to have their nests destroyed by another turtle as well as by man. This may stop the loss of baby sea turtle eggs and keep the number of sea turtles growing worldwide.
A Reef Habitat of the Green Hooked Beak Turtle
Structural Adaptation 1: A hooked beak
The Green Hooked Beak Turtle adapted from its ancestor the Green Sea Turtle to reshape its beak. This adaptation has allowed the animal more protection from predators and it has also been designed to suit its new and changing diet as this Sea Turtle will not be a herbivore it will be an omnivore. The hooked beak will start at the end of the modern turtles beak and it will extend out approximately 10cm. Without this special and unique adaptation it is very unlikely that this species would have survived due the climate change and over use of the world's ocean resources. Adding the hooked beak to this turtle will also require the animal to have sharp teeth inside both it's upper and lower jaw. This adaptation will resemble this animals ancestor's ancestor Odontochelys.
Structural Adaptation 2: Addition of Gills
The Green Hooked Beak Turtle has adapted to become more equipped and far superior to its ancestor under the water. This turtles's ancient ancestor had to come out of the water to breath, and had to hold its breath while swimming which could have possibly slowed it down. This sea turtle will no longer have to come out of the water to breath. The turtle will have gills on the side of its face as well as the side of the turtle's neck. This adaptation was crucial in the turtles existence. The turtle can travel long distances without having to come out of the water to breathe this may prevent the turtle from getting caught in nets that lie closer to the top of the water or getting hurt from propellors on boats traveling in that area. The gills will resemble the Stingray's gills.
Diagram Showing Physical Features
Behavioural Adaptation 1: Sea Turtle does not lead a Solitary Life
The Green Hooked Beak Turtle will no longer lead a life of isolation. It will spend time with other Green Hooked Beak Turtles. The animals will travel in a pod of 6-8 turtles hunting together like the Killer Whale (Orca). This will allow the turtles more opportunity for mating as females will generally always have a mate and therefore it is possible that there might be a growth in sea turtle population. Another advantage of traveling in pods is for protection. Having more protection could also prolong a sea turtles life. The Green Hooked Beak Turtle with the advantage of traveling in a pod will be able to stay near the nest of their babies eggs so when the eggs hatch they will travel with the parents pod. The eggs may still have predators such as racoons or Coyote's. However, with the protection of the pod, the babies will then have more of a chance of surviving and again it may increase sea turtle population.
Behavioural Adaptation 2: Change in Diet
The Green Hooked Beak Turtle will also have a change in the things that they eat. Its ancestor the Green Sea Turtle was a herbivore, who only lived off sea algae and other plants along the ocean floor. However the Green Sea Turtles ancestor Odontochelys was a carnivore. The Green Hooked Beak Turtle will have changed their diet to become a omnivore meaning that the turtle will eat both plants and fish. The turtle's diet will mainly consist of the following fish and plants:marine grass and algae, tropical fish, and when traveling to Northern parts of the USA the animal may feed on fish like salmon. By adapting to eat fish and plants the animal may find more food or more opportunity to eat the food.
Physiological Adaptation:Resistant to Oil
The ancestor of the Green Hooked Beak Turtle was prone to problems from oil spills, many of these problems resulted in the sea turtles death. Unlike its ancestor the green hooked beak sea turtle produces a special type of protein unique only to this species within the cell that protects the turtle from possible damage from oil spills in the future. This adaptation was necessary as many of this animals ancestors were killed due to a horrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Without this adaptation within this animals DNA it is possible that the animals may have been completely wiped out from oil spills.
Environmental Pressure that Lead to this Animals Evolution
Some environmental pressures that lead to this animals evolution are the following: With the pollution and climate change within the Green Hooked Beak Turtles habitat the animals had to evolve in order to survive. Such as a change in the animals diet. With the decline in food due to pollution the Green Hooked Beak Turtle evolved into not only eating marine grass and algae but also fish. Climate change caused the ocean temperatures to rise, this allowed some of the Hooked Beak turtles predators to move into warmer waters. This animal evolved to hunt and live in pods so they would have more protection from larger sea predators. With the change to the ocean environment due to numerous oil spills the animal has adapted to suit it's environment by never dying or getting sick from possible oil spills.
Viridis Camur Rostrum (Green Hooked Beak)
Click on this link to learn more about the Green Sea Turtle Modern Animal
Click on this link to learn more about the Green Sea Turles Ancient Ancestor
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Family: Cheloniidae
Genus: Chelonia
Species: Camur Rostrum
Habitat
The habitat of the Green Hooked Beak turtle will not differ to greatly from its ancestor the green sea turtle however the animal will be have far wider range of travel. Their habitat will resemble another sea turtle's habitat the logger head sea turtle, which inhabitants more of the ocean than just the tropical regions. This will benefit the Green Hooked Beak Turtle as their will be more beaches to lay their eggs, and there will be more opportunities in finding food. The map below shows a far larger range for this future turtle as illustrated by the dark blue regions.
The sea turtle will spend the first half of its life the same as its ancestor in the open ocean. In the second half of the sea turtles life will be spent in both the open ocean and in the shallow parts of the coastline. This will allow the Green Hooked Beak Turtle more freedom in moving to find food or more suitable habitats. As mature adults the Green Hooked Beak Turtle's habitat will resemble its ancestor the green sea turtle as it will spend it's life in bays, reefs and shallow waters along the coastline.
As the turtles have been given more freedom in their habitat it will allow them more space to make their homes and it will also provide the animals more beaches for breeding which will help the animals to not destroy any other nests or to have their nests destroyed by another turtle as well as by man. This may stop the loss of baby sea turtle eggs and keep the number of sea turtles growing worldwide.
Structural Adaptation 1: A hooked beak
The Green Hooked Beak Turtle adapted from its ancestor the Green Sea Turtle to reshape its beak. This adaptation has allowed the animal more protection from predators and it has also been designed to suit its new and changing diet as this Sea Turtle will not be a herbivore it will be an omnivore. The hooked beak will start at the end of the modern turtles beak and it will extend out approximately 10cm. Without this special and unique adaptation it is very unlikely that this species would have survived due the climate change and over use of the world's ocean resources. Adding the hooked beak to this turtle will also require the animal to have sharp teeth inside both it's upper and lower jaw. This adaptation will resemble this animals ancestor's ancestor Odontochelys.
Structural Adaptation 2: Addition of Gills
The Green Hooked Beak Turtle has adapted to become more equipped and far superior to its ancestor under the water. This turtles's ancient ancestor had to come out of the water to breath, and had to hold its breath while swimming which could have possibly slowed it down. This sea turtle will no longer have to come out of the water to breath. The turtle will have gills on the side of its face as well as the side of the turtle's neck. This adaptation was crucial in the turtles existence. The turtle can travel long distances without having to come out of the water to breathe this may prevent the turtle from getting caught in nets that lie closer to the top of the water or getting hurt from propellors on boats traveling in that area. The gills will resemble the Stingray's gills.
Behavioural Adaptation 1: Sea Turtle does not lead a Solitary Life
The Green Hooked Beak Turtle will no longer lead a life of isolation. It will spend time with other Green Hooked Beak Turtles. The animals will travel in a pod of 6-8 turtles hunting together like the Killer Whale (Orca). This will allow the turtles more opportunity for mating as females will generally always have a mate and therefore it is possible that there might be a growth in sea turtle population. Another advantage of traveling in pods is for protection. Having more protection could also prolong a sea turtles life. The Green Hooked Beak Turtle with the advantage of traveling in a pod will be able to stay near the nest of their babies eggs so when the eggs hatch they will travel with the parents pod. The eggs may still have predators such as racoons or Coyote's. However, with the protection of the pod, the babies will then have more of a chance of surviving and again it may increase sea turtle population.
Behavioural Adaptation 2: Change in Diet
The Green Hooked Beak Turtle will also have a change in the things that they eat. Its ancestor the Green Sea Turtle was a herbivore, who only lived off sea algae and other plants along the ocean floor. However the Green Sea Turtles ancestor Odontochelys was a carnivore. The Green Hooked Beak Turtle will have changed their diet to become a omnivore meaning that the turtle will eat both plants and fish. The turtle's diet will mainly consist of the following fish and plants:marine grass and algae, tropical fish, and when traveling to Northern parts of the USA the animal may feed on fish like salmon. By adapting to eat fish and plants the animal may find more food or more opportunity to eat the food.
Physiological Adaptation:Resistant to Oil
The ancestor of the Green Hooked Beak Turtle was prone to problems from oil spills, many of these problems resulted in the sea turtles death. Unlike its ancestor the green hooked beak sea turtle produces a special type of protein unique only to this species within the cell that protects the turtle from possible damage from oil spills in the future. This adaptation was necessary as many of this animals ancestors were killed due to a horrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Without this adaptation within this animals DNA it is possible that the animals may have been completely wiped out from oil spills.
Environmental Pressure that Lead to this Animals Evolution
Some environmental pressures that lead to this animals evolution are the following:
With the pollution and climate change within the Green Hooked Beak Turtles habitat the animals had to evolve in order to survive. Such as a change in the animals diet. With the decline in food due to pollution the Green Hooked Beak Turtle evolved into not only eating marine grass and algae but also fish. Climate change caused the ocean temperatures to rise, this allowed some of the Hooked Beak turtles predators to move into warmer waters. This animal evolved to hunt and live in pods so they would have more protection from larger sea predators. With the change to the ocean environment due to numerous oil spills the animal has adapted to suit it's environment by never dying or getting sick from possible oil spills.
Free online english to latin translation. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=English&to=Latin Retrieved July 24 2010
Loggerhead sea turtle. (2010, July 23). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:05, July 29, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Loggerhead_sea_turtle&oldid=375842092
Orca Lab, Initials. (2010). Orca social organisation . Retrieved from http://www.orcalab.org/about-orcas/information/social/index.ht Retrieved July 22 2010